Penguin v8.1 - PGN Editor for Chess

Penguin is a PGN viewer / reader / editor and desktop board for the review of games of Chess. It can interface with UCI chess engines to analyse game positions.

Penguin is a freeware program for Windows, and is available from this web page.

Use Penguin to

Store and replay your games and the games of the professionals.
Launch a quick chess board from your desktop.
Analyse game positions with the help of a UCI game engine and identify the most promising sequences of moves.

Penguin is the effort of one single programmer. My objective was to create a compact, non-commercial product that could stand alongside the existing editors and offer some original functionality. I hope that you will find it an enjoyable and useful product and that it will help you improve your skill at Chess.

December 2011 - New Releases. Versions 8 and 8.1 of Penguin were released.

Download Penguin v8.1

( Product and web page by Dariusz Stachowski. )

Screenshots

( The Penguin window )	( Composing a game )
( Interfacing with a UCI engine )	( Documentation )
( The collection dialog )	( Opening statistics )

Penguin Features

Stored Games. Games can be stored on disk. Penguin supports two game formats: PGN and Penguin's own ECH format. Many games can be held in a game file. Many lines of play can be stored in a game.

UCI Chess Engines. Penguin can interface with UCI engines ( 32 bit engines only ) and suggest best moves for game positions.

PGN / FEN Import. Games can be added into a collection by direct pasting of PGN / FEN text. Useful if you need to copy a game from an online chess site.

PGN / FEN Export. PGN / FEN text for a game can be copied to the Windows clipboard, ready for pasting into another application.

GIF, BMP Image Generation. Game positions can be exported as GIF images or copied to the Windows clipboard as BMP images, from where they can be copied into documents or other applications.

Printing. Games can be printed. The printout will include any text together with diagrams of selected positions of the game. Printing can be done either one or two columns down the page. Either the main line of play or all the branches may be printed.

Composition. Game positions may be composed, either as a starting state for a game or as a modification within a line of play.

Comments. Comments can be added to game positions. Users are able to search the game comments for a text string.

Bookmarks. Game positions can be bookmarked.

Opening Classifications Database. Games can be classified by opening.

Statistics. Opening and player statistics can be viewed for the games in the collection.

Backup. Backups are taken by the program as a protection against game loss.

Irregular Moves. Irregular moves can be made.

Download

The download is one executable installation program file. To download the file hit the link below. Run the installation program and follow the on-screen prompts. The installation program unpacks all the Penguin files that are needed. Please read the ReadMe and Licence files that are included.

Download Penguin v8.1

UCI Chess Engines

Penguin can interface with chess engines that support the Universal Chess Interface ( UCI ) protocol.

Chess engines are stand alone executables that form the computational core of a chess playing program. They can analyse game positions and suggest best moves. If an engine supports multi best line analysis then the relative strengths of different moves can also be obtained. There are many UCI engines available for download. No special configuration or setup is needed once the EXE file is downloaded. Penguin is not a chess playing tool ( i.e. human vs. computer ) but a tool for game analysis, so not all engines will be suitable for use with Penguin.

Some engines are slow to start.
Some engines do not support multi best line analysis ( multiPV ).
Some engines do not respond timely to a 'stop' command.
Some engines are not generous in the 'info' replies that they send.
Some engines are not freeware and may require registration.

The following list of UCI chess engines work well with Penguin.

Fruit 2.3.1
Houdini 1.5a w32
Shredder Classic 4
Toga II 1.3.1

64 Bit Engines. Penguin can only interface with 32 bit UCI engines. 64 bit engines might be a possibility in a future release.

The GoRilla Game Editor

A companion game editor, GoRilla, is available for the games of Go ( Weiqi, Baduk ), Connect6, Othello ( Reversi ), Hex, Unlur, Havannah, Y and Kropki. Download it from my web page [ gorilla.html ].

Contact and Support

You may contact me, Dariusz Stachowski, at [ penguin@dashstofsk.f9.co.uk ].

Please put forward any comments and suggestions you may have. If you experience something you think might be a bug then do let me know. Likewise if there is some feature or enhancement that you feel would make a nice improvement. All opinions will be welcomed.